The Enclave's Capital
by Meowth22
Summary: A what if where the Enclave takes a more active role in the rebuilding of the Capital Wasteland and the consequences of it. Will be written like a history.
1. The Aftermath of the Oil Rig

**2242**

It was over.

The staff at Camp Navarro had just received confirmation that President Richardson and the entire civilian government had been killed in the oil rig incident. Along with the President's pet monster, Frank Horrigan.

With all the civilian government dead, General Arnold Randolph decided to assume the title of President.

He promoted his second-in-command, Colonel Leonard Saul, a skilled spymaster, to General.

President Randolph was in a meeting with General Saul and Dr. Felix Autumn, head of the Research & Development when the topic was their part in causing this crisis came up.

When Dr. Autumn learned of Dr. Curling's project (that of killing the Wastelanders by weaponizing the FEV), he was horrified. Enough so that he leaked the plan to the Department of the Army staff.

General Randolph and his staff were horrified: their goal was to rebuild society, not to mass murder the survivors on the mainland. But, knew they couldn't directly confront Richardson on it, lest he send Frank Horrigan after them. But, they still couldn't let this genocide happen.

So, Colonel Saul decided to take a drastic course of action. With General Randolph's approval and through spies placed in the NCR capital, he made sure members of the NCR Congress learned of the plan.

In turn, NCR Intelligence collaborated with survivors from the Arroyo raid to infiltrate and destroy the oil rig.

The staff mourned the loss of those innocent lost in the incident, but considered it necessary due to it ridding the Enclave of the influence of Richardson and his genocidal supporters.

The meeting then turn on a different turn: what to do now? They had cynically guessed that their aid had only bought them time and that, eventually, the war hawks in NCR Congress would push President Tandi to destroy them.

Dr. Autumn made the suggestion: returning to the capital. The military figures were skeptical as the capital was one of the most bombed areas in the entire country. But, Dr. Autumn managed to persuade them by reminding them of how much sentiment it would mean to the troops to retake the capital and restore civilization to it.

 **So, I'll be trying something different with this fic. Instead of using dialogue, I'll be writing it like a history. It'll be a what if on what if the Enclave was more active in rebuilding the Capital Wasteland.**


	2. The Evacuation of Navarro

**2246**

The evacuation of Camp Navarro was underway.

It had begun as soon as General Saul had received word that the NCR had allied with the Brotherhood of Steel to make a strike on the camp.

The main priority of getting the troops and their families out safely.

Dr. Autumn was assisting the occupation by overseeing the evacuation of his scientists and their families, including the Evans, Dr. Jonathan Evans and his son, James.

One of the last squads to leave was the elite Devil's Brigade. Commanded by Major Gannon, the squad consisted of: Captain Kreger, Dr. Henry, heavy weapons trooper Moreno, marksman Johnson, and the pilot Whitman.

As the vertibirds flew over their lost base and the enemy forces fired upon them, they played a message from President Randolph to all of the personnel: not to lose hope as soon, they would be standing on the capital of their country and setting the foundation to remake civilization.


	3. Arriving at the Capital

**2247**

The Enclave forces took a long trek until they reached Maryland. They had been picking up troops from outposts throughout the country. These new troops had been raised from birth to expect the return of their government, and now that it had, eagerly joined it in its mission to restore their country's capital to glory.

Over the past years, a triumvirate was formed that everyone within the Enclave served, the High Command: first, was President Randolph, the harsh, but fair military man leading the operations; then, there was Dr. Autumn, whose knowledge and scientists would be crucial to rebuilding the capital; and finally, there was General Saul, the cold, calculating ex-spymaster determined to tame the wastes to the will of the Enclave.

In Baltimore, Maryland, they found a faction that would aid them in their retaking the capital: the Talon Company, a mercenary group led by Daniel Littlehorn.

It was from Littlehorn, that the High Command learned the state of the Capital Wasteland: progress had been stagnated for years due to the super-mutants running amock, raiders and slavers were always harassing the few settlements remaining, and then there were the feral ghouls…

In a meeting, the High Command sat down to make a concise plan. It was agreed that they needed to make contact and gain support from the populations in the settlements, so they don't make the same mistakes they made in California.

But, Dr. Autumn added to this plan: that they seek out the Vault-Tec Vaults in the wasteland. He revealed to them that there were six: 87, 92, 101, 106, 108, and 112.

Dr. Autumn reluctantly explained why Vault 87 had to be the priority now: its experiment was the Evolutionary Experimentation Program, a program to make super soldiers through the testing of a modified strain of the FEV, which is likely the source of the super-mutants ravaging the capital wasteland.

Both the president and general were outraged and disgusted at the thought of _their_ government being the cause of these monsters' rampage. But, Dr. Autumn calmed them down by giving them a way to make things right: assault Vault 87, retrieve the GECK inside, and then destroy the vault.

The Enclave would then use the GECK to terraform the capital wasteland.

Then, there were the other vaults: 92, which gathered the world's finest musicians into one place where they would be used as test subjects for white noise generators that implanted subliminal messages into their minds; 101, which was to be indefinitely closed in order to test how an overseer would do his duties if his vault was to never open; 106, which was to test psychoactive drugs on the residents; 108, which was designed to study conflicts for leadership and power inside a vault; and finally, 112, which was designed to put its residents into a virtual reality simulator.

Dr. Autumn noted that Vault 112 is where Dr. Stanislaus Braun, the director of the vault experiments, was placed in, so his notes may be found in the vault.

It was agreed among them that they would hire the Talon Company to battle the super-mutants in D.C., and thin their ranks until the Enclave army finish their objectives: find the vaults and settlements.

Then, the Enclave forces made their way to their destination: Raven Rock, a military base that was created as a fallout shelter for military leaders before the Great War. When they enter the base, they were greeted by an AI and an army of security robots, much to their surprise.

The AI introduced itself as John Henry Eden-the Enclave recognized it as the name of the president whom was in office when the bombs fell. It offered its services as an advisor to President Randolph, but he, wary of AI, had Dr. Autumn shut it down discreetly and take control of the base's resources for the use of the Research and Development division.

Raven Rock was powered by a nuclear reactor and had a water purifier. And it had the resources and space needed to produce and manufacture vertibirds, power armor, and weapons. These were the reason that the Enclave. These were the reasons the High Command decided that Raven Rock would be their central base in the capital wasteland, at least for the time being.


	4. Vault 101

The Devil's Brigade was dispatched on a vertibird to the capital wasteland's largest settlement, Megaton, to search for the nearby vault, Vault 101, landing right next to the settlement's farming areas and in front of several stunned villagers.

There, they came across one shock after the other.

When they entered the town, the first thing they saw as a giant a-bomb in the center of it with some crazy old man praying in front of it. Major Gannon made a mental note to arrange for the bomb to be disarmed just in case.

Then, they met a non-feral ghoul. The squad wanted them to execute him on sight, but his human companion, who introduced himself as Herbert Dashwood and the ghoul as his manservant, Argyle, persuaded them to let him be.

Then, they ran into Vault 101's ambassadors to the town: Agnes Taylor and Floyd Lewis. This confused the squad. If the vault was supposed to stay closed, then why were these two here? Taylor and Lewis were friendly enough to the squad, if reluctant to give them the location of their vault. But, once informed that the squad was there on behalf of the United States government, and that the time had come to end the vault experiment and open the vault, they agreed to lead the squad back to the vault.

Before they went to the vault, however, the squad decided to spend some time in the town, making some contact with the villagers and building up support for the long-term occupation of the capital.

They met the town's mayor, Colin Moriarty, in his saloon. He seemed a grouchy sort to the squad members, if understandably so if his report is taken into account. The town had to survive on its own for years before trade caravans started up, and then, that was when the raider attacks began.

The squad sympathized with the town's plight, so they made a recommendation that Enclave resources be used to police the wastes and ward off raider gangs.

Taylor and Lewis led the squad to the vault door, and opened it so they could enter. Vault security was stunned to see the new arrivals, but did not attack as they realized their weapons probably would not have an effect on the armor. Major Gannon requested to see their overseer.

Overseer Thompkins was at a loss at what to do. For years, he had to counter arguments from some of the vault's more isolationist, xenophobic citizens like Alphonse Almodovar and Allen Mack, who despised him for disobeying the vault's original mandate by seeking contact with the outside. But now, here comes these armored troops claiming to be the government.

He reluctantly gave the order for all the vault citizens to assemble in the main hall.

In the main hall, the citizens were either stunned, scared, or curious when they saw the armored troops.

Major Gannon set up a radio, which allowed President Randolph to give a speech to the vault citizens, telling them that their government has finally returned to the capital and will now rebuild civilization there, but, he'll need their help as it is every citizens' duty to do so.

The vault citizens' reactions to the speech were mixed. Some were excited, some were wary, and the isolationist faction in the vault grew even more paranoid.

But, a working relationship between Vault 101 and the Enclave was still established.


	5. Little Lamplight

Two squads were dispatched to Vault 87. They were warned to be ready for battle, as this was likely the source of the super-mutants.

In front of the vault, they found a settlement. But, there were no elderly in this settlement. Only infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers. All wearing tattered clothing.

They approached the settlement, when the children started letting out feral growls and picking up weapons: either guns or spears.

The children carrying spears rushed out of the settlement and were immediately wiped out.

The children carrying firearms stood ground on the settlement walls, but did not take cover, making it easy for the squad to wipe them out as well.

After the firefight went down, the squads began to approach the walls when several giant super-mutants charged out of the vault. It was a more difficult firefight, but the squads still stood victorious.

The troopers waited several minutes to see if any more super-mutants would come out of the vault, and when none came, continued into the settlement.

The younger ferals were cowering, crying out either in fear or out of grief over the bodies of their elder brothers and sisters. The only teenage ferals still alive were pregnant girls, all of whom looked at the men in armor with terror.

In the settlement, the squads found three civilized children: Simon, Amber, and Lily. They clamed to have been captured recently and told the squads all they knew about the settlement, this 'Little Lamplight.'

Simon told them that the vault is the base of the super-mutants and the settlement is where they keep the children they capture until they are old enough to be put into 'the green stuff' (that the troops surmised to be FEV).

When asked how the mutants sustain the settlements' population, Simon shuddered, explaining that, from the early teens, the children are forced to mate to produce more offspring to be future super-mutants. The squads could barely stomach this revelation.

The children explained that the pregnant girls were all ferals. They were either born inside the settlement to young feral couples or kept prisoner in the settlement for so long that they were reduced to a primal state of mind.

The troopers radioed for reinforcements in order to storm the vault and set up camp. While waiting, they took the time to bury the young ferals they had been forced to kill, pondering what lives those children could have lived in a civilized world. And what lives the younger children there might still have a chance to live, if the Enclave's plans succeed.

Reinforcements arrived (carried by vertibirds), which rounded the children up, separating the pregnant girls, feral toddlers, infants, and civilized children from each other.

The order was then given, so they stormed the vault, wiping out any super-mutant they found inside, until they came across the GECK.

The Enclave forces evacuated the area around the vault (bringing the GECK with them) before having the vertibirds bomb the vault, destroying it and the FEV source.

President Randolph had commendations given to every soldier present to celebrate the retrieval of the GECK and the destruction of the FEV.

There would be plans on where to use the GECK, but that was another matter.

Enclave High Command debated on what to do with the children found. It was agreed to place the civilized children, the toddlers (hopefully young enough to still be able to develop intellectually), and the infants into the care of an orphanage that the Enclave would build. But then, there was the matter of the pregnant girls…

All of them were under the mutants' care for so long that Research & Development believed that the resources needed to attempt to rehabilitate them would be too costly for an unlikely goal, so Dr. Autumn proposed a solution: waiting until the pregnant girls give birth, then euthanize them, before handing the newborns over to the orphanage.

It weighed heavily on the consciences of all involved, but the President and General saw no other way, so they agreed with Dr. Autumn's solution.

The tales spread about the Vault 87 expedition left a haunting expression on the Enclave forces as it forced them to confront the horrors wrought by their ancestors' vault experiments. President Randolph decided to strengthen their resolve by, in his speeches, motivating them to make it right by doing better for the capital wasteland now that they have the chance.

Dr. Autumn, especially, was left mentally scarred once he received report that both members of the squads sent in and the doctor put in charge euthanizing the girls had been dealing with mental breakdowns since.


	6. Raven Rock

The Enclave High Command decided to use the GECK to terraform the area surrounding their base, Raven Rock.

The new vegetation surrounding the military base caught the attention of the caravan merchants, which was how contact was established with the merchant town of Canterbury Commons.

The caravans told the Enclave of how frequent the raider gangs' attacks were, and of the brutality that they inflicted on the people of the wasteland.

It was decided to create a police force, made up of wastelander volunteers, which would go out against raider gangs and slavers. This police force would be known as the Regulators. And the Enclave would provide them with weaponry and communication.

High Command reviewed the reports of the Vaults. Vault 92 was found to have a mirelurk infestation, so it had to be cleaned out. Vault 106 was empty as the psychoactive drugs had induced the residents to kill each other ages ago. Vault 108 too was empty, though they did find traces of a cloning experiment.

In Vault 112, they found Dr. Braun and the other residents technically still alive, but that hinged on being stuck in a virtual reality program. R&D decided it would be best to euthanize the residents by taking them out of the simulation, and extracting Braun in a way that kept him alive, but able to share with them information.

Expecting an elegant genius, R&D instead heard Braun throwing a tantrum against them, like a child who had just had his toys taken away from him. It turned out that for decades Braun had been tormenting the residents for his own enjoyment through a variety of horrific scenarios.

Disgusted, but not surprised that such a mind would think up the Vault experiments they encountered, the Enclave decided that, once Braun shared all the information that he could with them, he, too, would be euthanized.

The Enclave received a report that one Talon merc, Alistair Tenpenny, had taken initiative, storming the tower, the Wolves gang's base, and killed their leader, Rip Smithy. But, they did show some concern upon hearing Tenpenny had taken the tower for himself and has resigned from Talon duties, worried that he might become a problem for the wasteland in the future.


	7. DC at War

When Enclave forces entered D.C., they found it to still be filled with super-mutants and feral ghouls.

For months, under the Enclave's pay, Talon mercs had been besieging the super-mutants in key locations throughout the city.

General Saul, looking for a symbolic victory to inspire the troops, had Enclave forces join the mercs in their siege of the Capitol. It was a resounding success, cleaning the muties from the building.

Upon joining in, the Enclave began ridding the metro of feral ghouls when Herbert Dashwood, the wasteland adventurer came to them. He told them of a settlement of non-feral ghouls hidden in a history museum, of how the super-mutants leave them alone, and what use they could give to the cause, if given a chance.

Intrigued, the Enclave decided to use Dashwood and his ghoul servant, Argyle, as intermediaries with the ghoul settlement, Underworld. There, they told the ghouls of the Enclave's offer: scout super-mutant locations for them and provide them with pre-war history, and they would leave the settlement as it is. Despite protest from one Roy Philips and his friends, who feared that, once the super-mutants were wiped out, the humans would rush into the city and outnumber the ghouls, leaving them at their mercy, the ghouls of Underworld agreed to help the Enclave.

The Enclave found the Pentagon to be mostly destroyed. It was decided, due to its intact sub-levels and vast treasure trove of pre-war technology and weaponry, to build upon the ruins to make it General Saul's base for the D.C. operation.

Contact was made with Rivet City, the settlement inside a decaying, beached aircraft carrier in D.C. and one of the most scientifically-advanced places in the entire wasteland. It was decided that several of the settlements scientists, including Drs. Madison Li and Catherine Williams, would be enlisted to aid R&D's Dr. Jonathan Evans and his son James' project: purifying the water of the wasteland.


	8. Operational Report 1

**2248**

After the Jefferson Memorial was cleaned of super-mutants, Dr. Jonathan Evans of R&D decided that it would be the perfect location to be the base of Project Purity, his project to purify the water in the Potomac. On his team, was his son, James, Dr. Madison Li, and Dr. Catherine Williams.

James and Dr. William quickly developed feelings for each other, so they were eventually engaged.

The Enclave had a cause for celebration when their police force, the Regulators, on their own, managed to finish off the Wolves gang via an assault on their base, Evergreen Mills. After thorough scouting, they surrounded the base, before initiating the assault. In the battle, they killed every raider inside, including the gang's street boss, Jericho, a raider infamous for his viciousness. This put a dent in the business of the slavers at Paradise Falls.

Dashwood and Argyle, having befriended the members of the Devil's Brigade, entrusted them with the location of a secret settlement called Rockopolis. The king of Rockopolis welcomed the squad as they were vouched for by the two adventurers.

However, trouble began, when a woman dating Dashwood, Penelope Chase, turned out to be a spy for the slavers. Dashwood had unknowingly led her straight to Rockopolis, and she had alerted the slavers to its location. When she was found out, Sgt. Moreno executed her while the slavers were surrounding the settlement, looking to enslave the inhabitants.

The Devil's Brigade then worked side by side with the people of Rockopolis, including Dashwood and Argyle, to fight off the slaver attack. The squad's superior tech and training won them the day as the slavers retreated with no major casualties among the people of Rockopolis.

Dashwood was aggrieved at almost being the cause of Rockopolis' doom, but was comforted by Argyle, and Major Gannon, who told him that a way to redeem himself would be to help the squad track down Paradise Falls and eliminate it, which he agreed to. The grateful king of Rockopolis hailed the Devil's Brigade as heroes, saying that they would always be welcome in the settlement.

In retaliation for the attack on Rockopolis, the Devil's Brigade led an assault on Paradise Falls, killing most of the slavers, including their leader, the psychotic cannibal, Harmon Jurley, and freeing the slaves held captive there. This broke the back of the slavers' power in the capital wasteland.

However, one slaver, Eulogy Jones, managed to escape the raid, and fled the wasteland to the Pitt.

With the demise of the slavers, more Wastelanders were won over to the Enclave's side. President Randolph himself awarded medals to every member of the Devil's Brigade for crushing the slavers, and securing freedom for those in bondage, carrying on the legacy of the great president, Abraham Lincoln.

One of the slaves freed in the Battle of Paradise Falls, a young man named Hannibal Hamlin, inspired by this speech, created a group called the Temple of the Union, which was dedicated to the collection of artfacts related to this great Lincoln. The Enclave, thinking this would be good PR, sponsored his efforts, with the members of the Devil's Brigade becoming the Temple of the Union's biggest endorsements.

In the battle for D.C., while clearing out areas filled with super-mutants, the Enclave forces stumbled upon an old facility of Virtual Strategic Solutions, Inc., a pre-war company that developed virtual training simulations for the U.S. armed forces.

Underneath the building, they found a bunker that contained armory of combat gear, which General Saul decided could be useful for the troops. But, to open the armory, R&D found out one would need to survive a simulation of the Battle for Anchorage and that the only way to enter this simulation was with a computer inferface device, like a Pip Boy.

So, Overseer Thompkins of Vault 101 was contacted, and told that the government required a volunteer from his vault for a mission requiring a Pip Boy. One member of the vault security, Joe Taylor, volunteered for the mission, but this left some of the paranoid citizens of the vault nervous.

Officer Taylor was escorted to the VSS facility, where he was placed into the simulation, and managed to survive it, opening the armory and giving the Enclave access to the weapons inside. For his help Officer Taylor was given a medal by the president himself, which gave the man a feeling of pride for having served his country.

However, fearing more vault citizens would be conscripted into serving the Enclave's operations, Alphonse Almodovar and Allen Mack staged a coup, and exiled Thompkins from the vault. Thompkins went straight to the Enclave outpost near Megaton, where he petitioned for help.

Unwilling to lose such an important ally (as Overseer of the only functioning vault left in the capital wasteland), the local commander sent a squad back to the vault to place Thompkins back into power.

When the squad arrived at the vault door, they were denied entrance as Almodovar had changed the password. But, a security officer sympathetic to Thompkins and the Enclave, opened the door for them, allowing the squad to storm the vault and arrest Almodovar and his supporters.

Thompkins returned to Vault 101 and took up his duties as Overseer once again. As punishment for the coup, Almodovar and his supporters were banished from the vault, with any family member that wished to leave with the exiles being allowed to go.

Almodovar forced his wife to stay in the vault with their daughter, Amata, only a toddler at the time, because he feared the dangers of what the outside world would do to them.

With no other options, Almodovar's group had to settle down in Megaton, beside the Wastelanders whom they loathed, under the watchful eyes of the Enclave outpost nearby.


	9. Project Purity

**2249**

Project Purity had been finished, and now the Potomac was cleansed.

There were celebrations throughout R&D, which only increased when Dr. Jonathan Evans got to witness the wedding of his son (and assistant), James, and Dr. Catherine Williams.

But, not all in the capital were content.

Within Underworld, there were a growing number of ghouls-not feral, but still hostile towards 'smoothskins'. And they were led by one Roy Phillips.

Phillips and his band feared that, due to the decreasing number of super-mutants and the purification of the Potomac, humans from all around the wasteland would now flock to D.C. It would push the ghouls out of the majority, leaving them at the mercy of the humans and their government.

But, Phillips had a solution for his followers: he had learned to control feral ghouls, and managed to establish dominance over them, leaving him as the leader of a horde of feral ghouls throughout the city metros. He would use these ferals as cannon fodder to push the humans out of D.C., then deal with their collaborators in Underworld, which would then leave him in control of the city.

The hordes' attack began suddenly one day when a pack of ferals sprung from the metros to attack an Enclave squad, slaughtering them to the last man.

High Command originally thought that it was merely a random attack by ferals, but as more and more reports of attacks on trade caravans and Enclave outposts throughout D.C. were brought to them, they realized that it was organized.

General Saul, suspicious, sent in his spies to contact Underworld for information. There, they were informed that the ferals had a leader, Roy Phillips, who had gone underground in the metro to wait out until all humans were cleared out of the city.

Upon receiving confirmation of Phillips' location, the elite Sigma Squad was sent into the metros to find and assassinate Phillips, in order to decapitate the feral horde.

Sigma raided the metro, using their weaponry to slaughter any ghoul-feral or otherwise-they came across. After blasting through the majority of Phillips' guards, they found his hideout.

Phillips tried to make a desperate last stand, but was slaughtered, alongside his lover, Bessie Lynn, and his right-hand, Michael Masters.

With their leaders dead, the feral ghouls became aimless once more. Animals to be hunted down.

On the matter of the loyal ghouls of Underworld, High Command decided that they would be spared the fate of their brethren, but kept segregated from the increasing population of humans in D.C. There, they would take on the role of overseeing the museum, and provide eyewitness testimony on the state and times of pre-war America to any curious visitor.


	10. The Purges of '51

**2251**

By 2251, there was no trace of the super-mutants in the capital wasteland.

With the objective fulfilled, High Command decided to conscript the Talon Company into the Enclave armed forces. It was judged too dangerous to have too many factions wandering the wasteland. And the mercenaries' service in the battle for D.C. earned the troopers' and officers' respect, so they were allowed to bear the official armor and weaponry of the Enclave.

Daniel Littlehorn raised an objection to this, but, on the threat of being placed in front of a firing squad, accepted the loss of his company.

James Evans and Catherine Williams' marriage was a happy one, filled with bliss, until she died while delivering their child, a boy named Arnold, named after the great president who had started all of this.

Heartbroken by his wife's death, James retired from the Research & Development Division, leaving for Megaton to take up the position of the town doctor and raise his son in a quiet environment.

But, upon arriving at the town, he discovered several breaches in the Enclave security apparatus. First, his predecessor as Megaton's doctor, a man named Church, was only recently discovered to be a former slaver, and thus executed, after working in the town for years.

Then, the people of Megaton told him all sorts of stories: how Alistair Tenpenny, an ex-Talon merc, had become a land-baron/crime lord in the area from his tower, how he had corrupted the Regulators, the wastelander police force that the Enclave had deputized to help bring order to the wasteland, into helping him extort honest folk for money, and the complacency of even some Enclave troopers in the nearby outposts.

They told him that they had made several complaints to the government, but were ignored. But, James, the son of the famous Dr. Evans who purified the Potomac, had enough pull to bring his complaint directly to the High Command.

With James backed up by Dr. Autumn, President Randolph had no choice but to issue General Saul a reprimand for not solving this issue sooner. The general, already stung by knowing that his army's honor had been ruined by such corruption, decided it was time to make examples of those responsible.

First, the legal power of the Regulators was suspended. All of the complaints from Megaton citizens were investigated, and, if evidence pointed towards the suspect being guilty, a death sentence was mandatory.

Eleven Enclave troopers were found guilty of corruption and executed. As were twenty-seven Regulators.

As for Tenpenny himself, upon hearing of the upcoming purge, he tried to hole himself up in his tower. But, his security force, knowing it would be hopeless to fight the Enclave and not feeling like dying for Tenpenny's money, turned on him, seizing him in his penthouse, before turning him over to the Enclave to be arrested.

Alistair Tenpenny was found guilty of his crimes and executed in front of the town of Megaton.

With the super-mutant front cleared, General Saul was now free to commit the resources of the armed forces to enforcing law and order in the wasteland. A police force answerable only to him-and the president, of course.


	11. The Lyons Expedition

**2255**

In the NCR state of Maxson, the Brotherhood of Steel was in the midst of war with the army of the New California Republic.

Soon after the evacuation of Navarro, Elder Jeremy Maxson came into conflict with NCR President, Wendell Peterson, over whether or not NCR citizens should have access to advanced technology.

This sparked the war. From their base at Lost Hills, the Brotherhood, using their technology, managed to stand their ground against the army of the NCR, causing many casualties in their much larger foe. But, the fact was that the NCR had much larger manpower than the isolationist Brotherhood, which, in desperation, began to recruit outsiders in Maxson to take a stand against the NCR invaders.

It was decided among the Elders that they would send Paladin Owyn Lyons, along with a large contingent, eastward to seek reinforcements from the Brotherhood chapter in the Midwest.

So it was that Lyons, along with many Brotherhood members and their families, including his own daughter, Sarah-just a toddler at the time, began their trek.

But, instead of landing in the Midwest, they over-shot their ship, resulting in them landing in Pittsburgh, where they first came across the Pitt, a disease-ridden den filled with slavers, raiders, and slaves, most of whom suffered from some sort of horrific mutation.

The conditions horrified Lyons, who decided to stage a military operation on the city, wiping out most of the Pitt's population, including its Lord, Eulogy Jones (who had earlier survived the Enclave's raid on Paradise Falls). Whatever unmutated children they found were taken to be trained as initiates.

Lyons' brazen assault caused some discomfort in parts of his contingent, whom were worried if their leader was straying from the code of their order.

But the Scourge of the Pitt was a massive victory for the Brotherhood, with only one assumed casualty: a paladin named Ishmael Ashur, who had actually survived, and began the building of a new society in the Pitt. A society where law & order reigned supreme, with himself as Lord (as most of the raiders were slain in the Scourge), with the reverence of the remaining scavengers.

The Lyons expedition continued on to the capital, where they hoped to find lost technology only to come face-to-face with an old enemy: the Enclave.

Lyons was at a loss at what to do. From his scouts' reports, the Enclave were more involved in the day-to-day lives of the Wastelanders here than they ever were back in California, which meant they could have more supporters here. And their larger numbers and superior technology ruled out another Scourge.

The High Command was shocked to learn of Lyons' expedition, and declared a state of emergency. General Saul readied his troops for war, awaiting the Brotherhood assault.

But it didn't come. Lyons' camp had split into two factions: Lyons and his supporters advocated caution while Henry Casdin advocated attacking the Enclave.

Eventually, the argument sparked bloodshed within the contingent. Casdin, declaring Lyons to be a coward and heretic, made an attempt on Lyons' life. This failed, resulting in a fire fight that left Casdin dead, along with his supporters.

Lyons mourned the loss of those that he called brothers, but knew it was necessary. But then, there was the matter of the Enclave.

Should they return to California? Their ship had no fuel left, and what if the NCR had won by the time they marched back to Lost Hills?

It was deemed too risky, so Lyons decided to reach out to the Enclave.

In a meeting with General Saul, Lyons explained to him how they came to be in the capital: of the Scourge of the Pitt, and of Casdin's failed mutiny.

Saul agreed to allow Lyons' chapter to live in the capital, so long as they agreed to be put under the watch of the general's secret police, and only used their technology to aid the people of the capital wasteland. With no other choice left, Lyons agreed to Saul's conditions.

It was a controversial move in both factions. Though Lyons' men remained loyal, having seen what happened to Casdin and his clique, some still voiced concern about trusting the Enclave, the genocidal enemy that they chased out of California not even a decade ago, with others rationalizing it as they had no where else to go, and were too outnumbered to fight the Enclave. In the Enclave, though the officer class and troopers did not oppose the plan (fearing a repeat of the purges if they crossed the general), the other branches complained to the other members of High Command, President Randolph and Dr. Autumn. But, Saul managed to convince them both that cooperating with this wayward Brotherhood chapter could benefit the Enclave.

Owyn Lyons himself had some doubts on the agreement, fearing if he had just signed away the futures of the contingents' children, including his little Sarah, to the dictatorship that brought ruin to pre-war America.

So, it was that the cooperation between the Lyons chapter and the Enclave began.

Meanwhile, back in California, the lack of news or reinforcements from Lyons, was a huge blow to the morale of the Lost Hills Brotherhood. As the NCR troops continued their advance into Maxson, it was decided that the Brotherhood retreated into their bunkers. With the Brotherhood in hiding, the Maxson War began to cool down.


	12. Point Lookout

**2261**

The year had a solemn start.

The president, Arnold Randolph, had passed away in his sleep, in his chambers in D.C.

The entire capital wasteland mourned for the great man. The man who had led the charge in bringing back life to their nation's capital. The ghouls of Underworld, under slight coercion, took a day of silence, before building a new monument in the museum to honor Randolph, the man who had spared their lives. Even Lyons' Brotherhood, which was developing closer ties to the wasteland over the years, had their emissary in D.C. provide the government with their condolences.

His successor was his right-hand and closest friend, General Leonard Saul.

Saul's own replacement as head of the Department of the Army was Colonel Augustus Autumn, son of Dr. Felix Autumn, the head of the Research & Development division.

The priority of the government was the maintaining of its armies, especially due to the rising strength of the Pitt, under the fallen Brotherhood paladin, Ashur.

Then, a plea for help reached an Enclave police outpost from a wastelander named Catherine, who reported that she wanted someone to go looking for her daughter, Nadine, who had left for Point Lookout, a swampland in Maryland, and hadn't come back.

Before then, the only interest the Enclave had in Point Lookout was the punga fruit it brought to the wasteland for trading.

The police sent a squad to investigate. The squad was led by Richard and John Adlam, sons of a Talon merc, Joseph, who was known for his valor in the battle against the super-mutants in D.C. and was conscripted into the Enclave armed forces.

The Adlams' first stop was to interrogate the ferryman, Tobar, who had brought Nadine to Point Lookout. Tobar pleaded ignorance of the affair, offering to take the squad to Point Lookout and assist them in the investigation in any way he could, giving them information about the layout of the land, including the deserted Calvert mansion, the home of a prominent family in pre-war America, and two groups to watch out for: a band of tribals, none too bright, but a harmless enough sort; but then, there's the swampfolk, an army of inbred mutated locals who were little more than animals.

So, it was that the ferryman brought the squad to Point Lookout, dropping them off at the docks.

The squad passed through the ghost town, encountering the swampfolk for the first time. Disgusted by their appearance (and wary of these mutants), they sniped them from a distance before making their way to the Calvert mansion, thinking it would be an excellent place to set up as a base and look for supplies.

When they approached the mansion entrance, a harsh voice (that they recognized as being that of a ghoul) came over the loudspeaker at the top of the door, requesting their help in fighting off tribals.

Curious, they entered the mansion to find an armed ghoul (and his two guard dogs) killing four tribals that were charging at them.

With the assailants dead, the ghoul turned to look at the squad, telling them that they'll all need to work together in order to survive.

The squad followed the ghoul throughout the house, killing any tribal they came across, with their training easily besting that of the primitives. Then, they split up with the ghoul (who stayed downstairs to watch the security cameras), to find out where the hole the tribals were getting inside the house was. When they found it, using a grenade, they triggered an explosion that sealed the hole.

Continuing on, the decaying structure of the mansion caused an injury to the team: one of the members fell through the floor, breaking his leg, leaving him open to being slaughtered by the tribals in the basement, who were then, in turn, killed by the squad, avenging their fallen comrade.

The squad regrouped with the ghoul in front of the main entrance, who then informed them that the tribals were about to attack them, so they placed mines in front of all of the doorways to the main room. With their traps set, the tribals were decimated by stepping on the mines, and the survivors were quickly cut down.

With the attack ended, they spoke the rude ghoul, who brushed of the death of their fallen man before introducing himself as Desmond, but otherwise reluctant to reveal anything else about himself to these strangers. Desmond offers to pay them to infiltrate the tribals (at their base at the cathedral) and find out why they want him dead as he only knew that they worship some sort of spirit.

Determined to find out more of these savages who killed their friend, the squad went to the cathedral, where they found an intercom, through which they spoke to a member of the tribals. John volunteered to speak, pretending to be a traveler interested in joining their group. The tribal told him of the ritual needed to join the tribe: entering the bog and feasting upon the Mother Punga fruit at a 'sacred grove'.

Though uneasy about these superstitious, savage customs, John decided to head to the bog, sneaking past several swampfolk patrols in the process, but not before making plans with his brother and teammates to meet up back at the mansion once he was finished with the tribe.

John entered the bog, finding it infested with mirelurks that he put down with his trusty shotgun. He eventually came across the grove of the Mother Punga fruit, which seeds he ate, causing him to pass out.

When, John awoke, his head was in searing pain. All of his hair had been shaved off! And he now had a large scar on his forehead! Many nightmarish scenarios rushed through his mind. What had those savages done to him?!

John rushed out of the bog and back to the cathedral, which he was now allowed in, meeting his new 'enlightened brothers and sisters'. He was doing everything he could to keep himself from breaking down, surrounded by these evil savages, who all were acting with unnervingly calm demeanors.

But he did meet Nadine, the girl they had been sent to find, though she did express reluctance to return home to her 'overbearing' mother, who told him that at the end of the ritual, a part of your brain is taken out, much to John's horror. She told him the location of the tribe's leader, Jackson: in a cave underneath the cathedral, giving him a key to get in.

John returned to the mansion to report his progress. His brother and teammates were shocked by his new appearance, but Desmond only told him to return to the cathedral to find Jackson.

He went into the sea caves under the cathedral, where he found Jackson kneeling in front of a device that projected a hologram of a talking brain. He stuck to the shadows to overhear the brain berate the tribal for his idiocy, before instructing him to kill Desmond.

John waited until Jackson left before confronting the hologram, which explained that the reason he wanted Desmond dead was, not only revenge for destroying his original body, a device in his possession: a jammer that limited the brain's psychic projection range to the cave. Thinking John to be a simple tribal, he decided to task him to destroy it, which would allow him to expand his psychic reach, hoping he would prove more competent than the other tribals.

Back at the mansion, Desmond revealed the brain's identity: Professor Calvert, an old enemy of his, before deciding to jam his signal to cut Calvert off from his tribals and leave him open for attack after they track him down. He then gave his jammer to Richard, telling him to install it in the highest point on the point: the ferris wheel, which would then allow him to track down the professor.

As the rest of the squad went to the docks, John decided to stay behind to watch the house, which they accepted, feeling he had done enough for the mission. However, the truth was he was hearing Calvert's voice in his head, urging him to kill the ghoul. He couldn't help himself. He felt himself compelled to act on the professor's will, the missing part of his brain leaving him especially vulnerable to the psychic influence.

He blew up the mansion, killing the dogs and apparently Desmond along with them, before waiting outside his ruins. Calvert instructed him to wait there until his friends returned, offer them a chance to join him and kill them if they refused. Internally, John was mortified at what he was doing, kill his brother? Aid this madman? Become a traitor? But the professor's will was stronger than his, so he obeyed.

The squad placed the jammer on the bottom car of the ferris wheel, before activating it, cutting off Calvert's signal, before being ambushed by tribals, whom they swiftly put down.

They were shocked to find John sitting in front of the smoking ruins of the mansion. In tears, he confessed what he had done, pleading innocence that the Professor forced him to do it, but assured them that his voice stopped several minutes ago, meaning that the jammer had succeded. Richard could only comfort his brother as he sobbed.

The squad was furious. One man dead, another mentally broken, and now their lead was dead, leaving them with no idea where to find Calvert.

However, that changed when Desmond burst out of his saferoom, revealing that he was alive. Furious at the deaths of his beloved pets, he charged at John, spewing curses at him, before being restrained by squad members.

Having had enough of being pawns in this battle between the ghoul and brain, they interrogated him on where Calvert was. Under coercion, Desmond told them that the Professor was in the lighthouse, right before one of the squad blew his head off with a shotgun.

With one man left behind to watch over John, Richard led the rest in a charge to the lighthouse. They easily dealt with the rusted robo-brains and protectrons Calvert had for security, before finally confronting the brain himself.

Despite having no way to defend himself, Calvert kept up his smug tone. Though they considered the possibility of taking him back to R&D to share his information and research with, they decided that, due to his psychic powers, he was too dangerous to take in alive, so they fired shots at the glass, causing it to slowly shatter as Calvert began to lose his composure. His glass burst, the water falling out, and the dead brain left on the floor.

Even with Desmond and Calvert both dead, Richard's thirst for revenge still wasn't quenched. There was still the tribals that had hurt his brother…

The squad staged an assault on the cathedral, killing all of them, except Nadine. She begged for her life, telling them that Tobar was the one scooping brain parts out, before Richard, suspicious that she played a larger role in the crime than she admitted, executed her, before ordering that it be put in the report that she was killed by the tribals, thinking that it would give more comfort to her mother that she was an innocent who was kidnapped and murdered, and not a traitor who left civilization to live among savages.

Then, there was the ferryman to deal with. As punishment for what he did to John, Richard and the squad gutted him, before throwing his body parts overboard.

Now, the only dangerous element, besides the animals, were the swampfolk.

The squad radioed the Department of the Army for evacuation.

The next day, vertibirds arrived to bring the squad back to the capital, and bring John to a hospital, beginning his long road to recovery.

After giving Nadine's mother his condolences, President Saul reviewed the squad's report with the Autumn's. The thought of a pre-war rivalry lasting this long amazed them, but now the thought of Point Lookout lingered.

The idea of expansion had been raised several times in recent years, but Randolph was reluctant to risk any of their successes in the capital if they encountered a power equal (or greater to) them in the surrounding territories, as they all remembered what even one man, like this Chosen One, who had become the boogeyman to the old troopers like the long-retired Devil's Brigade, could do to a faction like them.

But, to High Command, with only some inbred freaks standing in the way, Point Lookout looked like an easy grab.

Saul decided to give Colonel Autumn his first challenge as head of the Department of the Army: conquer Point Lookout.

So, it was that Colonel Autumn and his forces stormed to Point Lookout, establishing a base at the docks, before sending out squads to search for and destroy the bases of these swampfolk.

They stumbled upon the swampfolks' base, where they found out that they weren't just simple raiders, but a cult of demon-worshippers who performed human sacrifice. They slaughtered every single thing in there.

Upon getting the report, disgusted by these evil savages, Col. Autumn gave out new orders: kill any swampfolk you come across. No mercy. These were not humans. They were monsters. No better than the super-mutants and the feral ghouls.

With the genocide of the swampfolk, the Enclave could now mark its first expansion, with the gain of Point Lookout, Maryland.


	13. The Pitt

**2277**

By this time, the occupation and colonization of Point Lookout had been running smoothly. The empty land on the island provided much room for growing agriculture.

And now, there provided a new chance for expansion for the Enclave.

An escaped slave from the Pitt named Wernher managed to reach capital territory where he begged for aid from the authorities. The Temple of the Union, having long railed against the slavers operating from Pittsburgh, seized the opportunity. Wernher went on tour throughout the territory, proclaiming all the evils happening in that wicked place, the spread of diseases, the cruelty of the overseers, all of which could be laid at the foot of one man: Ashur, the Lord of the Pitt.

This name intrigued Elder Lyons, who remembered the name of the only paladin that he had lost in his scourge of the Pitt. Curious if this could be the same man, he met with Wernher, and, upon confirming what this Ashur looked like, proclaimed that it truly was him. Lyons expressed great shame that a paladin who served under him could sink as low as to be a slaver.

This propaganda campaign inflamed the capital's populace, who furiously demanded that action be taken against the Pitt.

For High Command, led by President Augustus Autumn, it provided a new chance to test the hardware the Department of the Army had just cooked up in recent years (with discipline still being maintained, despite the years of peace) and Research & Development showing interest in studying this trog disease that Wernher claimed to be spreading throughout the Pitt.

So, he agreed to authorize the operation.

First, two Enclave soldiers would pose as raiders coming to the Pitt to deliver a slave. But this would not be some poor unfortunate, it was Arnold Evans, one of the Enclave's best field operatives and the grandson of the great Dr. Jonathan Evans who purified the Potomac.

Arnold was marched to the gates of the Pitt, which were opened to let the new arrival in. Wernher sneaked back in by himself. The soldiers received their pay, leaving Arnold to the leers of the filthy raiders, who marched him to the steel mill to work. On the way, he witnessed the brutal methods of the raiders who were executed three slaves accused of aiding in the escape of fellow slaves.

When his shift was done, Arnold followed Wernher's directions to the house of his ally, Midea. Midea told him that she had a plan to get him into Ashur's palace and obtain the cure for the trog disease but was nervous about them taking too long. Arnold then had to rush off to the steel yard to collect ten ingots to prove his dedication to the cause.

It was a haunting task, having to face those monstrous trogs, but Arnold managed to accomplish it using smuggled in weapons. After giving the ingots over to the bosses, he was on his way back to Midea's when Ashur ordered all the slaves to assemble in the general square.

On a balcony, Ashur made a grand speech about how he (and them all) would make the Pitt a great power and promising the slaves freedom if they fight in his gladiator pit, the Hole. Arnold, sickened, was looking forward to seeing this despot taken down, and was surprised when Midea spoke up and volunteered him to fight in the Hole.

After Ashur left, Arnold confronted Midea, who explained her plan: if he won at the Hole, he would earn his freedom and an audience with Ashur at his palace, giving him the chance to steal the cure.

It was grueling, but Arnold was victorious in three battles with Ashur's gladiators, earning his freedom. One of the raiders escorted him to Ashur's palace.

Ashur was waiting for him, smoking a cigarette and in a conversation with one of his raiders who informed him about Wernher's reappearance and the feelings of rebellion growing within the slaves.

Ashur congratulated Arnold for his performance in the Hole, but became suspicious about how he got his combat skills, to which Arnold told him he was a simple gun-for-hire looking to join an army, which Ashur accepted before having his new soldier taken to the lab to see his cure, but not before an alarm started to blare up. The slaves were rioting!

Arnold went to the lab, noticing that many of the palace guards were leaving to handle the riot. There, he met Sandra, who introduced herself as Ashur's wife and presented their baby daughter, Marie. Arnold was shocked to find out that this baby was the cure as she was immune to the disease and that she had been experimented on.

This revelation left Arnold conflicted, but the abolitionist values he (and every boy in the Enclave armed forces) was raised on won out.

He seized Marie out of her crib. Enraged, Sandra began to call for the guards when Arnold shot her in the head. Marie began to cry as the remaining guards started to storm the room. Arnold managed to gun them all down before leaving the palace.

Outside, it was a city at war. The slaves were rising up, tearing the bosses apart at the steel mill. To get past, Arnold had to neutralize several snipers stationed above.

He made his way through the chaos, with little Marie on his back. Arnold dropped the baby off at Midea's, before meeting with Wernher at the steelyard, where the rebel leader revealed his masterstroke: shutting off the floodlights and releasing the trogs to attack the raiders.

To do this, Arnold had to fight his way through dozens of trogs before reaching the terminal and shutting the floodlights off.

In the courtyard, Ashur, furious at the death of his wife and kidnapping of his daughter, confronted Arnold. It was a showdown that would leave the Lord of the Pitt dead.

The trogs rampaged through Uptown, slaughtering the majority of Ashur's raiders until the rest surrendered. Then there was the matter of mopping up the loose trogs.

With Ashur dead, the time had come for Arnold to signal for reinforcements to enter the city. Arnold was placed in quarantine, separate from Marie.

R&D tested on Marie (using humane methods) and found that she wasn't a cure, but just born with an immunity to the trog disease. This disheartened Wernher and his followers, but they were mollified with promises that the Enclave would focus efforts on finding a cure.

For President Autumn, it was a massive success in terms of PR and gaining materials from the Pitt's industry, not to mention neutralizing what could have become a rival power in the future, but what was now a puppet state under the leadership of Werher.

As for Arnold, he returned home to his town, Megaton, where his father and wife, Sarah, daughter of Elder Lyons, was waiting. But he brought someone back from the Pitt: little Marie. After all, he and Sarah were struggling to have children.

It would be a new start for their family. A family under the watchful eye of the Enclave.

 **Thank you to all who reviewed my story. My next Fallout story will be focusing on the first game.**


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